I suspect that on Thursday Mitt Romney’s Mormonism will perform the function that Mormonism has been fulfilling in American politics for a century and a half: It will be an anvil on which this mainly Protestant nation hammers out the place of religion in public life.
Orality, Literacy, Apostasy and Restoration
In the historiography of communication, orality refers to reliance on the spoken word as well as to the corresponding institutions and habits of mind, while literacy means not just the ability to read, but also the mental habits and social institutions that attend the use of writing, or more specifically the use of an alphabetic writing system, or the particular cognitive framework that has developed along with the alphabetic systems of Western Europe. The Mormon concept of a historical apostasy can be described in terms of orality and literacy. In fact, Brian Stock, an eminent historian of medieval literature, has already (if unintentionally) done just that
Personal Note
What Do Mormons Look Like?
In 1846 during the Mormon Exodus from Illinois, as the Saints were strung out in various camps across Iowa and farther west, Mormon Warren Foote went in search of a mill to grind some of his grain: “It is quite a curiosity for the inhabitants here to see a “Mormon,†he wrote.
Mitt Romney’s Mormon Speech
Mitt Romney has decided to formally address his Mormonism in a speech this Thursday. His campaign is stressing that he won’t be detailing Mormon doctrine, but speaking more broadly to the role of faith in America and in Mitt Romney. This speech will cause every major news organization on the planet to discuss Mormonism this week, with coverage that may exceed even that of the Salt Lake City Olympics, where Mormonism appeared only as a local interest sub-story. This week Mormonism will be at the center. Over the next week we will offer threads about the speech, commentary and global discussion. Let us know what your local papers are saying.
Times and Seasons Welcomes Paul Reeve
It has no doubt been noticed–for those that care about the deep red-blue rivalries of Utah, anyway–that Times and Seasons does pretty well when it comes to drawing upon the Cougars insofar as perma- and guest-bloggers are concerned, but until this point, our track record with the Utes has been lacking. With arrival of Paul Reeve, an assistant professor of history at the University of Utah, as a guestblogger for the next little while, we hope to turn that record around.
Terryl Givens: The Scholar as Celebrant
Terryl Givens is doing a great deal in People of Paradox.
Reflections on People of Paradox by the Author
Terryl Givens was kind enough to share some reflections on his book, People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture, in response to our questions. His answers follow, in italics.
Watching conference
Stake conference in the mission field. Still the mission field, for although we are a stake, there is no stake center, only a chapel in some of the main cities, and rented rowhouses elsewhere. The stake covers some 10,000 square miles. Therefore we gather in this huge, sparsely lit movie theatre—theatre number 14 in a massive cinema complex close to the highway.
Another Conference on Mormons
Call for Papers: “Interpretation: LDS Perspectives†Sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities and Mormon Scholars Foundation
Graduate Student Conference at Claremont: Call for Papers — CHANGE!
“May These Principles Be Establishedâ€: Mormonism in the Political Arena
The Wonder of a New Religous Art Tradition
Terryl Givens and Richard Bushman share a common pattern of scholarship. Both seek to put the Mormon experience into a broad cultural and historical framework. Both seek engage us by bringing Mormon history into dialogue with the broader history of our shared civilization. This is part of an encouraging direction in serious Mormon scholarship that seems to be moving beyond myopic focus of endless chronicles. Givens’ work had the added benefit of good prose that is actually fun to read.
Tracing Emily (updated)
This story begins at the bitter end, with suicide in a Butte brothel.
Givens’ Winter Wheat
His fruitful new study provides lots to chew on this winter.
People of Paradox Symposium
Terryl Givens’ new book, People of Paradox, provocatively explores how distinctive features of Mormon faith are expressed in Mormon culture. Times and Seasons has decided to hold a symposium to review it, and to take up the conversation it begins. The symposium will include
Grad Student Conference: Mormonism in Politics
Graduate Student Conference at Claremont: Call for Papers “May These Principles Be Establishedâ€: Mormonism in the Political Arena
Mission Thanksgiving Meals
Here’s a post for your afternoon stupor. What were your mission Thanksgiving meals like? Tell us in the comments.
Turkey: The Poll
What’s going to be on your plate tomorrow?
Brothers in Arms
Today, my older brother, James Daniel Fox, turns 40. That’s right: 40. Forty! Which means I’m thirty-nine, and that’s plain crazy. Something has gone dreadfully wrong, I know it.
Book Review: People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture
People of Paradox is unusual: Givens sets out four major paradoxes in Mormon thought and then shows how various aspects of Mormon culture (the life of the mind, architecture, visual art, dance, film, etc.), at various moments in history, negotiate those dilemmas.
Blogging, Church Doctrine, and the Limits of Authority
People frequently claim that Mormonism is an essentially atheological religion. It is not always exactly clear what is meant by this statement, but it generally seems to me something like we place right practice and sacred stories at the center of our faith rather than an abstract set of propositions. Whatever the merits of this claim, I think that it is hard to deny that the concept of “church doctrine†is enormously important within the church discussions.
Sorting voices from the dust
When we read the Book of Mormon, whose voice do we think we are hearing? Trying to answer that question, I think, is one of the essential moves in a Mormon mode of interpretation. Consider, for example, 2 Nephi 2:17, where Lehi pauses to speculate on Lucifer’s origins:
Three Statements
In 2004, the church issued True to the Faith, a First Presidency-approved booklet discussing many points of church doctrine. The booklet includes a discussion of birth control. How does that official, First Presidency-approved discussion compare to both President Beck’s recent talk on Mothers Who Know, and to the anti-Beck statement at the What Women Know website?
Replenish the earth
Is “multiply and replenish the earth” one commandment, or two?